Trains to Germany, Holland and beyond...

[marriott0.01]

2 Hours 10 mins atm is pretty good, I live near Nottingham and it takes me almost that. Come to think of it though, linking the three most major cities in the UK is probably going to benefit more people than my idea would (Even if it benefits more regions, it won't add up to the population of London/Birmingham/Manchester/Liverpool). Lots of investment is vital across the network that's for sure, whatever benefits the most people is best I suppose

Euston and St Pancras won't need to be linked any more than they currently are. They're a 10 minute walk away from each other and also connected by the London Underground. Birmingham to Paris for instance would bypass both the Euston & St Pancras terminus and stop at Stratford instead.

The exact thing they want is "a dedicated rapid transport system linking Euston and St Pancras and a direct rail link to High Speed One" so what they mean by that I do not know :L

And yeah I see what you mean they want to target the main regions who bring a lot of money into our economy. They don't exactly want to go benefiting the likes of Nottingham because I doubt it brings much into the economy in terms of tourism etc.. So the major cities of the UK are probably their main priority since they're going to make the High Speed 2 a Y network, which means it'll connect to both Liverpool and Manchester on one line, and Leeds on the other. Making it serving both the North East and North West. However, there are also future plans to expand High Speed 2 to go to Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2 hours 40 minutes. At the moment they both take 4 hours 30 minutes. So that's of HUGE benefit for scotland. Cutting 2 hours out of the journey time. And I don't know exactly how they're going to run the International Services from Birmingham to Europe because they'll still be on two completely different lines High Speed One and High Speed Two. So I'd like to see if they actually do implement any of the international rail plans with Birmingham and the North or whether you'd have to change.

[alexxxxx]

I would never take a train to Europe, expensive no doubt and take far too long.

well from london it is faster to take the train to paris than fly when you add in the additional times you need to be at the station.

the real problem that stops rail travel being cheaper is that there is only one operator allowed through the tunnel (though i remember being told that this exclusivity was about to end) and the fact that seeing as the UK is not part of the schengen area, passport controls are required getting on and off the train (which makes a short hop on the train from some place in kent to a small town in northern france very difficult/expensive.

however i can imagine a train service from manchester to paris (stopping in birmingham, london, lille/amiens) being quite well used.

[Jordy]

well from london it is faster to take the train to paris than fly when you add in the additional times you need to be at the station.

the real problem that stops rail travel being cheaper is that there is only one operator allowed through the tunnel (though i remember being told that this exclusivity was about to end) and the fact that seeing as the UK is not part of the schengen area, passport controls are required getting on and off the train (which makes a short hop on the train from some place in kent to a small town in northern france very difficult/expensive.

however i can imagine a train service from manchester to paris (stopping in birmingham, london, lille/amiens) being quite well used.

Yeah I believe the EU in January this year made it so there can be multiple operators through the tunnel (Hence the ICE Trains by DB Schenker being tested in October). Air France/KLM is also considering it. It's also rumoured if Virgin lose the West Coast franchise and fail to win the East Coast franchise they'd buy the new TGVs to operate through the tunnel.

You make an excellent point about the Schengen agreement though, this is the real obstacle to it all. Passport checks and secure platforms for each stop, not cheap or convenient at all.

[alexxxxx]

Yeah I believe the EU in January this year made it so there can be multiple operators through the tunnel (Hence the ICE Trains by DB Schenker being tested in October). Air France/KLM is also considering it. It's also rumoured if Virgin lose the West Coast franchise and fail to win the East Coast franchise they'd buy the new TGVs to operate through the tunnel.

You make an excellent point about the Schengen agreement though, this is the real obstacle to it all. Passport checks and secure platforms for each stop, not cheap or convenient at all.

no no, i went to a conference with college to paris and i'm sure a eurostar boss was talking about how their exclusivity contract with eurotunnel was coming to an end - i don't think the EU had anything to do with it. tbh it would be good if prices could fall because prices are not competitive enough with airlines or coach.

[marriott0.01]

no no, i went to a conference with college to paris and i'm sure a eurostar boss was talking about how their exclusivity contract with eurotunnel was coming to an end - i don't think the EU had anything to do with it. tbh it would be good if prices could fall because prices are not competitive enough with airlines or coach.

The EU Competition's committee did come involved and did pressure EuroTunnel into relaxing its fire safety rules which would allow more competition within the CTRL.

[Jordy]

The EU Competition's committee did come involved and did pressure EuroTunnel into relaxing its fire safety rules which would allow more competition within the CTRL.

That was the second step towards allowing it yeah.

The deregulation of European railways by the EU as of January 2010 is what triggered it though (and possibly the end of Eurostars exclusivity combined with Eurotunnels poor finance).

It touches a bit on the deregulation here and on various other news articles:
http://www.abtn.co.uk/news/air-france-eyeing-rival-eurostar

[Apple]

In my opinion getting the train to France would be much more easier than flying. It would be cheaper, no long check in times and the wifi/3G would be great. I have only ever been on a high speed train once and I loved it, much more relaxed than flying,

[marriott0.01]

In my opinion getting the train to France would be much more easier than flying. It would be cheaper, no long check in times and the wifi/3G would be great. I have only ever been on a high speed train once and I loved it, much more relaxed than flying,

To be honest there's more space on trains. However they need to sort out some trains The SouthEastern High-Speed don't even have WiFi which pisses me off

[Jordy]

To be honest there's more space on trains. However they need to sort out some trains The SouthEastern High-Speed don't even have WiFi which pisses me off

Suppose so but bare in mind it's only used for commuter journeys generally less for an hour. They've only just managed to roll it out on long-distance operators such as Virgin Trains and East Coast. East Midlands Trains have recently began rolling it out and it's still yet to come to First Great Western and CrossCountry. Eurostar still needs it too but I'm pretty certain the ICE trains will provide WiFi (When not in the tunnel of course).

[marriott0.01]

Suppose so but bare in mind it's only used for commuter journeys generally less for an hour. They've only just managed to roll it out on long-distance operators such as Virgin Trains and East Coast. East Midlands Trains have recently began rolling it out and it's still yet to come to First Great Western and CrossCountry. Eurostar still needs it too but I'm pretty certain the ICE trains will provide WiFi (When not in the tunnel of course).

Yeah I've tried to use the Virgin Train's wifi, although they don't accept debit cards